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Chapter 33 – Date With Death


Slowly making her way across the catwalk to the other side of the warehouse, Buffy kept a close eye on all of the available exits. Every muscle was tensed and on edge as she prepared for anything, part of her expecting Angel to step in front of her, the other part anticipating it to be Spike.

Knowing that neither man was expecting her to be there, she tried not to think about how that doubled the risk for her.

“Anything?” she asked into her radio.

“Nothing on this end.”

“I don’t know where he is, Giles,” Buffy said, looking around, hating that her nerves were getting the best of her.

“You still have a few minutes, Buffy. And you can always back out-”

“Not backing out of this. Just make sure that we’re covered outside.”

“You are. And Buffy… be careful,” he warned.

Not bothering to respond, Buffy looked at her watch.

01:47:00

Thirteen minutes and counting.

She hated this.

She hated everything about it, and as she watched the seconds tick away, she could feel her anxiety mounting.

A few minutes before two o’clock, Buffy heard the distinctive squeak of the doors opening. Crouching behind a large crate in the corner of the upper level, she watched as Angelus and Hamilton walked into the area.

Frowning when she saw them, Buffy scanned the area, surprised that Spike wasn’t already in the building, waiting for a surprise attack. Shaking off her feelings and emotions, she turned back to the man who was obviously in charge. The man she had last seen limping away from her after the damage she had caused him. Smiling at that part of the memory, Buffy quietly stood, staying close to the wall as she made her way toward the ladder that was furthest away from the three men.

Slowly descending, Buffy froze when she heard the sound of the doors reopening. Looking around, she silently dropped the remaining feet, crouching low when she saw Spike walk in, seemingly calm, even as Hamilton pulled his gun on him.

‘Is he insane?’ she thought, watching Spike walk into the warehouse, seemingly without a care in the world.

“What’s the matter, Angel?” he asked with a smile. “Not happy to see me?”

“On the contrary,” Angelus replied with a smile. “I didn’t think you’d make it so easy to kill you. Marcus,” he said, turning toward the man next to him.

Buffy’s eyes widened when she Hamilton extract a second gun from his waistband, aiming them both at Spike. Acting purely on instinct, Buffy fired her gun, seeing Hamilton double over when the bullet entered his hip.

Spike’s eyes briefly darted over to where she was before closing the distance between himself and Angel, slamming his fist into the other man’s face.

“What’s the matter, Willie? Did I take a plaything of yours?” Angelus taunted, retaliating with an uppercut to the jaw as he spit blood out on the floor.

“You couldn’t take anything from me, even if you wanted to,” Spike growled, smashing another punch into his nose. “But you did hurt someone I care about,” he said, kicking the other man in the gut. “And for that…” punch “…you’re gonna suffer.”

Hitting him again, Spike was surprised that O’Neill wasn’t fighting back as strongly as he knew he could. The thought was formed when he felt a crack on the back of his head. Falling to the floor, he turned to see Hamilton, blood gushing from his hip, spilling onto the Armani suit. Reflexively pulling his gun, Spike emptied a round into Hamilton’s chest, aiming a well-placed kick to Angelus’ knee at the same time, dropping the other man to the floor.

Jumping up as Hamilton hit the ground, Spike saw the murderous look in O’Neill’s eyes as he pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants, aiming it at Spike. Hearing the shot ring out as a bullet sliced through the air, Spike’s eyes widened when Angelus’ arm snapped over with the momentum of the bullet. Seeing that it was only a graze on his arm, Spike slammed his fist into the other man’s face before jumping up and running to the back of the building.

Ducking behind a pile of crates, he crouched low to avoid retaliation by Angel as the bullets sliced through the air.

Buffy kept a close watch on him as she shrank back into the shadows. Moving farther away, she pressed a hand to her earpiece, hearing Giles’ voice.

“Buffy? Are you alright? Buffy!”

“I’m here,” he said, her voice quiet in spite of the gunfire.

“What’s happening?”

“Everything… it’s under control- just keep an eye on everything out there. Do not come in! Keep Angelus from getting out!”

Raising up slightly, Buffy fired once more, narrowly missing Angel’s arm, never realizing that she was drawing his fire to her, leaving Spike with an open opportunity to run past the gap in the crates and drop down next to her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Spike growled, ducking low when another bullet whizzed by his head, seeing the indignant expression on her face.

“Saving your ass- it’s what I do.”

Glowering at her for a moment, Spike quickly began returning fire.

“Get out of here!” he yelled, his eyes widening when she stood and took aim at Angel, hitting him in the collarbone.

Spike watched in appreciation as she easily slipped around the warehouse, approaching Angelus in his blind spot.

“Freeze!” she yelled, causing Angel’s gaze to dart over to her, giving Spike enough time to take aim at him. “You’re under arrest,” she continued, narrowing her eyes at the sadistic smile he gave her.

Buffy frowned when she didn’t see any blood pouring from where the wound should have been in his chest. ‘Damn it, should have known he’d come prepared,’ she thought, vaguely seeing the extra bulk of the bullet proof vest beneath his clothes.

“Look who finally grew a pair,” Angelus said, tilting his head slightly as Buffy slowly walked toward Spike, feeling more comfortable with strength in numbers.

“Never needed to,” she replied, arching an eyebrow in his direction. “I kicked your ass once- I could do it again.”

Buffy could practically hear Spike smiling beside her.

“Drop the gun,” she said calmly, moving her hand to her radio to call Giles for backup, her finger tightening on the trigger, aiming at his head, when Angel didn’t listen to her. “Last chance, O’Neill,” she said, gritting her teeth when he smiled at her.

“Last chance, huh?” he said, tilting his head to look at her.

Instinct kicked in when she saw Angelus aim at Spike- shoving him out of the way a split-second before the other man pulled the trigger.

The feeling of the bullet slicing through her caused Buffy’s body to jerk back, reflexively trying to get away from the pain.

Gasping in agony as she fell to the floor, Buffy was vaguely aware of the sound of more gunshots but couldn’t focus on them as she tried to breathe.

Seeing Angelus running for the back of the warehouse, Spike made a move to go after him, hoping that he’d hit him where he wasn’t covered with the armor at least once. Turning to look for Buffy, his eyes widened when he saw her lying on the floor, a pool of blood slowly spreading beneath her. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut- he vaguely saw a tear trailing down her cheek.

Nearly falling over himself as he ran toward her, he dropped to his knees next to her. Letting his gun fall to the floor, Spike immediately ripped off his shirt and pressed it to the gushing wound in her shoulder.

“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered, his jaw clenching as he tried to fight the tears in his eyes when she unconsciously arched her back off the floor, fighting off the pain. “It’s okay… you’ll be fine. Stay with me, Buffy.”

Running one hand through her hair as the other put pressure on her shoulder, he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the sirens outside of the building. He never thought he’d be so grateful for the cops showing up.

“Buffy?”

Turning at the sound of Rupert Giles’ voice, Spike couldn’t say anything as the older man ran over to kneel next to them. Quickly calling the EMTs, he gave them their location before turning to Spike.

“What happened?”

“Angelus,” Spike replied, never taking his eyes off of Buffy.

“I know that much,” Giles snapped.

“Well, do you have him?” Spike retaliated, gritting his teeth before focusing on the woman in his arms.

“We’re working on it.”

Looking at Giles in disbelief for a moment, Spike pulled Buffy closer when he heard her moan softly. “You’ll be okay, love,” he whispered, hoping that she knew he was there as he pressed his lips to her forehead. “Can’t let anything happen to you.”







Thanks so much to: Cynthia, spuffette, Uncaged Muse, Cordykitten, Suzee, Chelsea, jenny, Whitelighter354, Franchesca, Melissa, demona424, Brittany, H, baby spikes, Elanor, flibble, Caitie, Kimber, Crystal Pegasus, vero1020, Wikka Tara, aj, Opal, txjmfan, Jessica, Addy, BuffyandSpikeForever & willowmouse for reviewing!





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